No leadership, certainty, plan or truth from Federal Government on renewables
The Federal government has failed to deliver any coherent plan for Australia’s 21st Century energy needs providing no leadership, certainty or truth on renewable energy - and this contagion is spreading through State Liberal parties.
“Today we see the South Australian Liberal Leader adopting the tactics of his Federal colleagues, misleading the public, chasing off investment in that State and putting politics well ahead of a plan or a policy,” said Claire O’Rourke, National Director of Solar Citizens.
“At the same time media reports indicate that the Federal Government were told, in no uncertain terms, that renewable energy was not the cause of a major blackout in South Australia in September, extreme weather was.
“The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister have actively lied in interviews and statements since - all the facts were thrown overboard to suit their ideological and economically reckless positions on Australia’s future energy system.
“With the Federal government showing no plan for renewable energy beyond 2020, it has been up to State/Territory Governments including the ACT, South Australia, Queensland and most recently Victoria to plan their own renewable energy transitions,” said O’Rourke.
“And now, like a virus, the wreckers in opposition in several states are spouting the same nonsense, trying to undo these state based efforts - what an absolute disgrace.
“New analysis from the Clean Energy Council (CEC) today indicates unprecedented levels of new investment in large scale renewable energy projects now underway throughout Australia, despite all the efforts to talk the sector down.
More than 20 large renewable energy projects are either already under construction or will start this year, delivering an unprecedented program of works which will create almost 3,000 direct jobs and generate more than $5 billion of investment. The industry is expected to deliver approximately 2250 MW of new large-scale renewable energy in 2017, the most since the Snowy Hydro Scheme more than 50 years ago.
“These politicians at the State and Federal level should look in the face of investors, business owners and tradies involved in the renewable energy sector and explain their deceit.
“Renewable energy can, and will, absolutely replace ‘baseload’ power and provide a reliable source of electricity. What we need to do is get smarter about how we create and distribute energy.
“Part of this demands prioritising investment in ‘dispatchable’ renewables and storage systems like pumped hydro, solar thermal and batteries, which can be quickly deployed to provide power when necessary and costs are falling rapidly,” said O’Rourke.
“We need new rules to boost the uptake of distributed energy and storage like home solar and batteries and microgrids.
“What’s required is a fundamental rewrite of our energy laws in order to facilitate the transition to 100% renewable power.
“Consumers and business will be the winners from an energy system that’s safe, clean, reliable and affordable and that’s what renewables can and will deliver, no matter how loudly ideological politicians shout.”
Media Contact: Andrew Bradley P: 0403 777 137 E: [email protected]
